>>1180861For anyone wondering about mini-keels vs daggerboards, I put together this picture to explain the difference. The upper catamaran has a regular cruising mini-keel. Great for cruising since you never have to think about changing them in any way; they're just there. They also provide protection for the propeller and rudder behind them. The downsides are that they are always there so for example when sailing downwind you can't retract them to reduce drag, it's more surface that needs anti-fouling treatment and cats with mini-keels don't point as high as those with daggerboards.
The middle pictures feature Chris Whites solution to this; a sort of hybrid with much smaller mini-keels to reduce drag while still providing protection for the prop and rudder, and to make the boat sail well to windward it has daggerboards that come out through the keels for extra "grip" in the water when needed.
The last picture features a Gunboat 66 with daggerboards only; the orange thing poking out of the otherwise black hull. The upside to this is that the boards can be deployed only when needed, the rest of the time they're pulled up and don't cause any drag at all. The downside is that it's one more thing to think about while sailing and also one more thing that could go wrong. Unless you sail with them slightly deployed, there's no protection for the prop and rudder seen further aft.
